Saint John the Evangelist and an Angel

El Greco (Domenico Theotokopoulos)

about 1600

Pen and pale brown ink, gray-brown wash, on off-white paper, Pen

J. Paul Getty Museum

With an expression of longing, Saint John the Evangelist gazes upward to heaven, gesturing with his right hand. Broad folds of drapery clothe his long body. An angel swathed in flowing drapery flies behind him, sketched freely with several pentimenti. El Greco used long, free lines to create rich patterns of form and then applied broad strokes of wash as veils. This loose sketch, one of only three accepted drawings by El Greco, is typical of his free-flowing style with its rich interplay of light and dark. He made the drawing as a preparatory sketch for a painting of the Crucifixion.